Nvidia 6600 GT AGP Roundup --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

In Summary

Now that you have seen the unique features touted by each card and gone through our results, here is a recap of what we have discussed so far.

From what we have seen, quite a few manufacturers have upped the stakes by offering 'pre-overclocked' products. Almost half of the contenders in this shootout (ASUS, Galaxy, Gigabyte and Inno3D) went with this strategy, hoping that this would give them the winning edge. Obviously this has paid off as these cards powered ahead of their peers in our performance tests. Buyers who are reluctant to overclock their cards for fear of voiding their warranties may consider these already overclocked cards. However, there was a price to pay for some of these overclocked products. Besides its higher retail price, the ASUS N6600GT/TOP/TD ran quite warm and its maximum overclocking threshold was disappointing. Based on raw performance power, it is undoubtedly ahead of the pack and if that is your main criteria then the ASUS N6600GT/TOP/TD is tops. On the other hand, overclocking enthusiasts who torture their hardware to extreme limits may find the Chaintech SA6600G much to their liking. Although it was clocked at the default speeds, we found that it had the greatest headroom for overclocking. Add to that its rather decent price tag and we think that the SA6600G would be very good value for overclockers.

Another important issue is noise output. This is increasingly a concern with consumers these days because PCs are no longer just on desktops. There are home theatre PCs that need to blend into the living rooms and the high pitch whine of a cooling fan does not exactly provide the right ambience. Besides that, a computer system as a whole these days are equipped with a number of cooling fans and all these add to the noise generated by the PC. As such, who wouldn't appreciate quiet graphics cards to help reduce operating noise levels? The cards from Inno3D and Albatron fare poorly in this department and we would advise readers to stay clear of these if you are picky about the noise produced. While one could find excuses for Inno3D since it is factory overclocked, the only excuse for Albatron?s large and annoying cooler is that it does its job of cooling the card somewhat well. In this related aspect, the cards from Galaxy, Leadtek and MSI scored high marks for their absolutely quiet and efficient coolers. Other cards from ASUS and Gainward recorded higher though still acceptable temperatures and we would caution potential buyers to consider the state of their case ventilation before proceeding (if you are concerned of heat buildup).

Most cards had similar features that are found in the reference design. Only two vendors stood out with bonus features. Galaxy outfitted their GeForce 6600 GT with dual DVI-I connectors while MSI included a Philips ASIC that enabled VIVO capabilities on their card. We applaud them for their efforts though do take in account the probable extra cost to your wallets. For such cases, it is a matter of whether the product meets your needs and hopefully, you would have gotten a better idea after reading this summary.



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